Mounted polar bear for sale in Pennsylvania

UPI News Service, 08/16/2013

The owner of a Pennsylvania restaurant that closed this year said he is seeking to sell a mounted polar bear, but the item isn't allowed to leave the state.

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Dave DeWees, who owned the Woods Creek Grill restaurant outside of Lickdale before it closed its doors earlier in the summer, said he is seeking to sell the 8-foot-tall mounted female polar bear, but there are laws governing the sale of the endangered species, Pennlive.com reported Friday.

The bear was shot by Easton, Pa., Dr. John Reganis on a hunting trip in Alaska in 1967. DeWees bought it at an auction after Reganis died.

DeWees said laws have changed since Reganis' hunting trip, but he is able to sell the bear because Reganis kept detailed documentation of his hunt and the bear's mounting. However, he said endangered species laws prevent the buyer from taking the bear across state lines, meaning it must remain in Pennsylvania.

"TAXIDERMY: Polar Bear, 8'x6" Polar Bear, Large life sized Brown Bear, Large Elk Number 3 non typical in the world, Buffalo half Mount," a newspaper ad for the piece reads.